RAMALLAH—MP Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) decision to move forward and join several UN agencies comes in response to Israel’s failure to release the fourth round of Palestinian prisoners.

Barghouti added that the decision to go to the United Nations was taken unanimously at a PLO leadership meeting on Tuesday. The leadership decided that the only way for it to gain full rights for Palestine as a state was to pursue full membership in UN agencies.

Barghouti stressed that Israel’s threats are of no concern and that placing faith in the current round of negotiations is no longer possible, as they are being used to cover-up Israel’s settlement expansion plans.

Barghouti explained the decision to join the international treaties was taken in the spirit of national unity and as a step towards strengthening and mobilizing the popular resistance movement as well as the boycott and sanctions movement against Israel.

In applying directly to join UN agencies, the Palestinian leadership has abandoned its pledge to freeze such unilateral actions during the current round of negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel—which are set to end at the end of this month.

The Palestinian leadership has repeatedly threatened to pursue justice through international courts and the UN over Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are considered illegal under international law, if Israel does not hold up to its end of the negotiations.